Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Cleveland snapped its nine-game losing streak Thursday night with a 7–4 win against the Royals that helped Terry Francona’s squad avoid falling below .500 for the first time since May 1. While this young team deserves to take pride in its stirring comeback, capped off by Franmil Reyes’s first walk-off home run at Progressive Field, it appears to be a temporary respite in what seems destined to end up as the first losing campaign of Francona’s tenure in The Land.